Ghent: The Secret Belgian City you can’t Miss

As you’ve probably picked up based on my recent Instagram and blog posts (you can read all about Brussels here and Bruges here), I fell in love with Belgium on our visit in December.

We visited three cities – Belgium, Bruges and based on a last minute tip Ghent. I’m so grateful we listened to the advice we got given to include Ghent in our itinerary. When I said Brussels and Bruges where fairytale cities I truly meant it, but Ghent is something straight out of a Brothers Grimm story book. As well as being picture perfect, Ghent is also a little bit of a secret so is nice and quiet. It’s actually a university city!

We spent one day in Ghent, catching the train from Brussels. It’s only a 45 minute trip to the main station in Ghent. However the main station is not in the city centre so you have to catch a 10 minute bus from there. It’s all very well signposted and easy to do!

My Ghent Highlights

Rather than write a long list of must do’s I want to let my photos do the talking for Ghent. But as a quick guide I’ve listed my Ghent highlights below:

The Belfry: As I mentioned in my Bruges post, we missed out on going up the Belfry tower because the line was so long. So we were pretty excited when we got to Ghent and only had to line up behind 2 other people to get into the Belfry here. The views from the top are incredible!

Bridge of Saint Michael: Not only is the bridge itself stunning but the view back towards the city centre is stunning. We just stood and stared for ages – it was too pretty to believe.

Try the famous Belgian candy – cuberdon: This traditional purple candy, originating in Ghent, is triangular in shape with a hard crust outer and gooey centre. It is believed that cuberdon was invented by accident by Ghent pharmacist De Vynck in 1873. You’ll spot vendors very easily with their bicycle booths piled high with a rainbow array of the gooey-centred treat. I would recommend just buying one to try first – they are very sweet and aren’t for everybody. But we thought it would be fun to seek them out on our trip!

Architecture: Just walking the streets and exploring you will see so many stunningly detailed Belgian buildings. Be sure to check out the cute strip of them along the canal!

Gravensteen Castle: If it wasn’t fairytale material enough already, Ghent even has it’s own city castle, originally built in 1180. The line for Gravensteen was the longest line we had to wait in all day, and it was only about a fifteen minute wait. Once you’re in you can wander and around and explore the castle for as long as you like.

Do you think you would include this lesser known city on your Belgian itinerary?

Big Love,

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